- What IBM has offloaded 3600 Steeles Avenue East
- Why The valuation for the office building works out to $134/sq ft
- What next Several other Markham office properties remain on the block
IBM has sold its Canadian headquarters for $115m, Green Street News can reveal.
Triple Properties purchased 3600 Steeles Avenue East in Markham in a deal that closed on July 24. The valuation for the 855,000 sq ft property works out to $134/sq ft. CBRE had the assignment.
The purchase was funded in part via an $84.5m vendor take-back mortgage. In addition to IBM’s Canadian headquarters, Mech Solutions and ventureLAB lease space in the seven-storey building.
The property was built in the early 1990s. Amenities include a cafeteria, walking paths and a heated, covered walkway to the parking deck. There are 300 surface parking spaces and 300 covered parking spots.
Near the intersection of Steeles Avenue East and Victoria Park Avenue, the property is within 3 km of Highways 404 and 407 and the Milliken GO station. Several TTC and YRT bus routes run nearby. The building is less than 4 km from downtown Markham and 20 km from downtown Toronto
Amid the sale of 3600 Steeles Avenue East, several other Markham office properties remain in play. Slate Office REIT is looking to offload the Gateway Centre for $42.5m, a consortium is seeking bids of $38m to $40m for Scotiabank Commercial Tower, and a private investor is shopping 165 Commerce Valley Drive West for $30m.
Suburban Toronto office buildings have been outperforming their downtown counterparts of late, in part because of the pain of commuting into the core. According to Colliers, the Q2 office vacancy rate downtown was 13.7%, compared with 10.4% in the GTA north submarket.
Toronto-based Triple Properties is a private real estate services company that invests in, manages and develops industrial, commercial and retail properties in Canada and the U.S. A division of Triple Group of Cos., it’s led by managing partner Steve Apostolopoulos.
In addition to its Markham headquarters, IBM Canada occupies 63,000 sq ft at 16 York Street in Toronto. Arvind Krishna is chairman and CEO of the Armonk, New York-based company.
